When one survives a date with death, one must live with what follows. The aftermath. The echo. The wardrobe of regret... and the color never quite fades. I’m back in court again. Not legally. Mentally. This is my sixth trial since her funeral. Same courtroom: a dimly lit room in my head. Same furniture: cracked floor tiles, a flickering lightbulb swinging like guilt’s pendulum. I’m on trial for the crime of survival. Same...

_-_-_-_-_ My eyelids slit to inky surroundings. An even darker black than usual. Did the universe get wind of my plans for today? I consider things for a moment, like how he used to leave a nightlight on near our bed. “I want to be able to see your pretty face while you sleep,” he’d say, always sleeping facing me. His words were like a caress across my skin. Now, I lie for minutes before the silhouette of his backside tak...

This is my story, a story of the most painful experience of my life so far. Nothing in this story is fiction. BEFORE AUGUST I had been worried about going for the one-year National Youth Service Corps program. This was because my result, alongside those of my coursemates, had a tough time being approved by the university's senate. I prayed, and my parents prayed as well. They were tired of the delay as much as I was. Whil...

In a lovely midtown, a boy named Jake Carson and his girlfriend Mary Watson were in high school. They loved each other, but the girl's mother, Clara Watson, was a disciplined cop who wouldn't accept their love. One sunset evening, Jake and Mary were in the mood to have sex in Mary's bedroom. Suddenly, Clara came home from duty and saw them in Mary's bedroom. She shouted like a demon, and then Jake and Mary knew Clara had...

In the small, rundown jail on the outskirts of the city, the atmosphere was always tense. The prisoners, locked up in their cells, waited for the darkness to come. For them, it was a time of rest, a time to escape the harsh reality of their confinement. But for the guards, it was a time of vigilance, a time to ensure that no one tried to escape or cause trouble. On one particular night, a new guard, Jimmy Carson, made his...

Johnny Carson was a cop in the city, patrolling the streets every day with his trusty police car and his colleague, Mitchell Barsto. They were an unstoppable duo, always ready to take on any challenge that came their way. One evening, they parked their vehicle under a tree, taking a moment to enjoy the cool breeze. Suddenly, their walkie-talkie was blaring with a call about a murder on Lincoln Street. A man had been kille...

Was it paranoia? Perhaps it was, as the train pulled away from the station which was a three-minute walk from Frazier Street maternity hospital, with the little bundle of joy she cradled, sat looking out of the window. Was she being observed? Somebody had been following her she was sure. A man who looked like he slept on the streets. A scruffy individual of no fixed abode. She didn’t like to stare straight at him. In fact...

"You sure you wanna do this?" The woman's voice echoed through the stark, white-walled room. Heather had taken off her blouse and bra in front of her, and was covering her breasts with her hands, with nervousness clear on her face. She was shaking and standing where the camera couldn't capture her. "Move to the center, stand firm, and smile a little," the woman ordered. "You look sad. We need to brighten up a little." Hea...

They say everyone has something to hide, and you can only tell the truth when you look someone in the eye. * Shelley Withams-Glennie claims she’s an only child, but last month I read an article about her paraplegic brother in the local newspaper. Davis Currie was in youth detention for shoplifting, but says it was his twin, Frankie, who stole everything. Frankie never uses the urinals at school, and instead locks himself...

In a beautiful house on the outskirts of a large city, the six-year-old Benjamin was playing with his grandfather. Benjamin was the kind of kid who could never sit quietly. His active imagination made an adventure out of everything. That day, Benjamin was an Indian warrior, and his grandfather a cowboy who was taken prisoner and tied to a column in center of a room. Benjamin, with a feather in his headband, was dancing ar...

Jack Walker had to die. The two men in the faded blue sedan didn't know why. They don't care. They followed orders – and that meant they waited in front of his house. Ten minutes later, he came out into bright morning sunshine, hurrying down the front steps. A battered black leather jacket slung over his broad shoulders and an oversized duffel bag in one hand. Like he was in a rush. Maybe like he was aware they covertly w...

The book on speaking Italian was of no interest to him, despite looking at it with apparent interest. He was in fact, surreptitiously looking through the shelves of books in the library at the computers where he had a good view of what people were looking at on the internet or just in general. Michael Booth was 62 years of age, and looked quite a few years older. He had grey, wavy hair, and was fairly plump. His belt was...

They had planned it as the holiday of a lifetime, but Jen had known all along that it was her final attempt to save their marriage. She'd had very little help from Alex, as usual, other than a few affirmative nods and grunts over his evening bottle of Scotch. Now here they were in San Francisco, in a lovely boutique hotel with a balcony and a magnificent view of the bay. It had cost and arm and a leg, but she'd worked so...

I have become suspicious of everyone. It is not something I particularly wanted, but it has become this way. I’m an inventor, you see, and I have invented a machine that everybody wants, especially corrupt, paranoid governments and dictators. They all know about it, and all want what I’ve got. Even normal people want it, from teenagers to the elderly. It can make me rich if I knew how to market it properly. If I knew what...

The rain seems so soft and friendly. Comforting; as if its entire meaning of existence is to engulf you like a child in a blanket. Simply reassuring you that everything will be alright. This road is beaten and brittle. The cracks quietly outline the years of torture that this road has witnessed. The withered leaves yawn as they try to cover up my mistakes, tired of knowing I won't listen. They pray that I will believe the...